Youtube declares that the Shaggs are NO LONGER THE WORST BAND EVER -- this band is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj7pDNDuoJ0

The Village Voice has this to say about that:

"For starters, the band covering Floyd really does suck. Not only are they playing badly, but they're playing tentatively, which is also why when you notice that all the dudes are mouthing along with the words the whole tableau becomes more touching than embarrassing. But there was nothing remotely tentative about the Shaggs. Philosophy of the World sounds deeply, deeply weird not because the Shaggs were inept, but because they did play in different time signatures, did sing with carefully worked out Martian harmonies, did write songs with alternate tunings and guitar parts that almost always doubled the vocal melodies exactly. They were all out-of-the-ordinary musical gestures, and all in the service of girl-group pop sung by then-recent teenagers."

The pinhead agrees with most of that--but not the "alternate tunings" observation. The alternate tunings were really just carelessness--at least so the pinhed thinks.

the most pernicious thing about The Shaggs is the "worst of both worlds" element - combining the conformity of the Silent Majority ( "I learned my lesson never to roam") with the apathy ("It doesn't matter what you do, it doesn't matter what you say") and narcotics endorsement ("Foot Foot" is obviously heroin) of the beatnik.

here is a srupise, this has been a test of the Emergency Shaggcast Service to test devotion and obedience to the Church of Wiggins (C.O.W.) ... you may now partake in the 9th Rite of Shaggcension whereby one attempts to rhyme "oyster" with "coaster"

Most cover bands think that as long as they sound bad, they're doing it right--"Shaggs" style. Such bands are terminally lame.

I think it would have been non-lame if the Shaggs had someone like Van Dyke Parks for their producer. Then the instrumental tracks would have sounded more like this--which just needs the Shaggs vocals to go with it.

" ... we heard over the speakers a song from the original Shaggs album. Finally, Alarm Will Sound played their arrangement of the same song."

"About the content, I'll only say this is some of the most unusual music I've heard; idiosyncratic in an almost Ivesian way although the rhythmic complexity may have been unintentional. Note that the conductor and drummer were both wearing headphones, presumably for a click track."

"About the process, holy musicology! Hearing the orginal and then hearing the arrangement played live was a great way to experience what the musicians (and arranger Gavin Chuck) had accomplished. ..."

"Who would have expected that hearing recorded rock music on stage, in the midst of a "classical" concert, would lead to a surprisingly worthwhile experience."

"And finally, some text from Philosophy of the World:

'It doesn't matter what you doIt doesn't matter what you sayThere will always beOne who wants things the opposite way' "

Dot Wiggin still has a perfectly good job as a housekeeper at the public library in Fremont New Hampshire, so there's no need to be getting any big-headed show-biz ideas. You have to keep your feet on the ground.